Girl Who Cried Wolf

Exhaustion

"So, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to hangout at your place on Friday? Maybe watch a movie or something?" Yerin suggested as she linked arms with Eunbi.

"Sorry, I can't. I have plans with Umji."

"Just you two alone?" Yerin seemed a bit suspicious.

"Don't worry, it's nothing. Sometimes her parents invite me over for dinner. I haven't been there in awhile, so they decided it was time I come over again."

"Oh, they only invite you over? Seems a bit weird." She shrugged.

"No, Sowon comes too. They like to invite Sowon over for dinner often because she paid for them to get a house, so in return they feed her every so often. It's the least they could do for her."

"She's the one that paid for that house? It was probably her foster parent's money."

"Partially. Sowon saved up that money for years upon years. She gave them all her money, that's why she's in debt and has a job now."

"Yeah, but she can get more money from her parents."

"Sowon hates relying on people. She would never go back to getting free money from them."

"My parents wanted to know if you wanted meat for dinner on Friday, they're going shopping today." Umji appeared out of the blue.

"Of course I want meat."

"I'm gonna head to class now. I'll see you guys later." Yerin waved to the two.

"You think Sowon would want a lot of meat too?" Umji asked as they headed towards their lockers.

"Yes, it's her favorite. Your parents don't know about us, right?"

"No. I haven't told them yet. I'm too scared that they will hate me."

"Well, it's not your fault. The bite is a gift." Eunbi reassured her.

"You sound like Sowon." Umji rolled her eyes.

"Speak of the devil." Eunbi found Sowon by her locker when they came around the corner.

"Is she okay?" Umji asked as the two kept a safe distance from her.

"I don't know. She doesn't look okay." Eunbi tilted her head. Sowon had her head leaning against the locker with her eyes closed.

"What's up, bitch?" Umji slapped Sowon's arm.

"I'm not in the mood today." Sowon lazily responded.

"What's wrong? You look tired as hell." Eunbi immediately noticed the bags under her eyes.

"I am exhausted." It seemed as if speaking was already a chore to her.

"Why? Did you not sleep well last night?"

"I didn't sleep at all last night. I literally didn't close my eyes once."

"No way. You had to at least sleep a little bit."

"I'm being serious, Eunbi."

"Are you sure you can go to class?" Umji looked concerned for her.

"I can't miss another class. I have to graduate. I'll be fine, don't worry." Sowon reassured them before dreadfully walking to class.

➖➖➖

Sowon kept her eyes glued to the clock, not even bothering to listen to the teacher. She was so tired. She felt like she could fall asleep right here right now. Her eyes began to flutter like a butterfly's wings. She was slowly beginning to fall asleep.

Eunha kept glancing at Sowon as her head repeatedly fell forward, her eyes completely closed. She had just dozed off when the teacher yelled her name to wake her up. Sowon violently woke up, seemingly a bit startled, as if she just woke up from a nightmare. She felt awkward now that all the attention was on her. She couldn't wait for the bell to ring in a few seconds.

"I am so hungry," Yuju said.

"You're always hungry." Umji patted her on the stomach before taking a seat next to Yerin.

"Hey, don't you guys have to start your senior projects soon?" Eunbi asked as the other two arrived.

"Yeah, pretty soon I think." Eunha answered.

"What do you plan on doing?" Umji always loved to hear the senior projects. She couldn't wait to do one.

"I'm thinking maybe the topic of the lgbt community? A lot of the projects are lame. Some of them are just making blankets for the homeless or doing stuff with charities, which is important, but I want to do a speech. My voice has a meaning, as does everyone else's voice." Eunha was actually quite surprised that she found herself excited to do her senior project.

"What about you?" The group looked at Sowon.

"Hm? I don't know. Maybe something about racism? Or education? Maybe sexism, inequality of the genders." Sowon shrugged. Those were her three main ideas, but she was struggling with choosing only one, they were all so important.

"Are you sure they will let your topic be about the lgbt community?" Yuju looked uncertain about Eunha's idea.

"That's exactly why I need to. Don't you see? We always have to question if it's okay to talk about lgbt, that's already sad enough as it is. We aren't even allowed to talk about it. It is a taboo, but all it is, is love. Love doesn't need to be a taboo just because it is different from the 'norm.' We have to break these stereotypes. There is no ugliness in love, there is pain in love, but pain can evolve into something beautiful. We should not have to fear talking about lgbt."

"Honestly, I agree with you so much, but I don't think the school district will allow you to." Umji furrowed her eyebrows. She wasn't sure about the idea.

"I don't care if they allow me to or not. The fact that they won't let me talk about it is exactly why I need to talk about it."

"Eunha is right. I agree with her. You can't let someone stop you for standing up for what's right." Yerin looked proud of Eunha.

"Um...I'm gonna go. I'll see you guys later." Sowon got up from her seat, almost falling back down because she was so exhausted. "Oh, by the way, I won't be able to make it to dinner with your parents on Friday." Sowon looked at Umji. She felt bad because she knew Umji really wanted her to come.

"Where are you going?" Eunbi looked at her in a suspicious manner.

"I'm gonna go talk to a teacher...about senior projects...?" Sowon sounded uncertain, but the group let her go with no further questions.

Sowon made sure no one saw her as she slipped through the library doors. She weakly smiled at the librarian as she headed directly towards the back of the library. She sat down, leaning against the book shelf, and placed her bag on her lap. She closed her eyes and hung her head low. She was finally falling asleep in peace.